The Atlantic
What ‘Taking the Pandemic Seriously’ Means Now
We need new laws, new policies, and new scientific processes to ensure that we never have to go through this again.
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The Atlantic, all agree: We should “take the pandemic seriously.”
I take the pandemic seriously, myself. But at this stage of the crisis, I would like to nail down the terminology. What does it mean for an advanced nation to take a pandemic “seriously”? And are we sure that’s what we’re actually doing?
In the past 13 months, the concept of seriousness has been equated with the level of sacrifice people are willing to stomach. How much of our social and emotional lives are we willing to cancel? How many consecutive days are we willing to stay inside? How many masks are we willing to don? How many schools are our local leaders willing to close? And how many retailers? And how many restaurants? And how many parks, and how many beaches?
The scientist behind Pfizer s Covid-19 vaccine says people will likely need annual shots
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Vaccines Are Effective Against the New York Variant, Studies Find
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As if we didn’t experience enough Covid shaming in 2020, pundits are now advocating the shaming of vaccine-hesitant people especially the roughly 40% of Republicans who say they’re in no rush to get the jab.
Political outrage has clouded scientific reasoning here.
The data show some Republicans are indeed turning down the shots though the extent of the hesitancy is hard to measure. Many of them aren’t so much vaccine-skeptical as just vaccine-indifferent. Not everyone is going to spend hours refreshing their screens hoping to nab the first available appointment, or drive an hour or more to a mass vaccination center. Some would rather wait for demand to die down and go to their local pharmacy.